Men's Basketball 2/26/2014 2:18:00 PM

OCU at Mid-America Christian men's basketball preview

Stars play first game since breaking into national rankings

Terry Johnson ranks 34th nationally with an 81.9 percent free-throw percentage.

8 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 27
Gaulke Activity Center in Oklahoma City

THE MATCHUP: Oklahoma City University heads across town to take on Sooner Athletic Conference opponent Mid-America Christian.

ABOUT THE STARS: OCU notched its third consecutive win with an 85-78 victory over Texas Wesleyan Saturday at the Sid Richardson Center in Fort Worth, Texas. The win moved the Stars to 16-9 overall and 12-6 in SAC play. OCU currently sits in second place in the SAC standings.
R.J. McGhee, a 6-foot-6 senior from Baton Rouge, La., paced the Stars' attack with 31 points, nine rebounds and two steals against the Rams. McGhee provides OCU with 19.3 points, 4.8 rebounds and 1.35 steals a game.
Jamaal Crayton, a 6-3 senior from Augusta, Ga., contributed 14 points, eight rebounds and three assists. Crayton averages 10.6 points, 5.7 rebounds and 1.36 steals a contest. Terry Johnson, a 6-foot senior from Chicago, chipped in 12 points, six rebounds and three assists. Johnson collects 15.2 points and 4.0 rebounds a game.
The Stars checked in at No. 17 in the latest NAIA Division I rankings. The Stars were picked to finish fourth in the SAC in the preseason coaches' poll. OCU has won national championships in 1991, 1992, 1994, 1996, 2007 and 2008.
OCU holds a 15-3 record in the all-time with Mid-America Christian. In the last meeting between the two, McGhee scored 42 points to lift the Stars over the Evangels 97-89 in overtime Jan. 18 at Abe Lemons Arena. His 42 points remains the highest scoring single-game performance in the league this season.

ABOUT THE EVANGELS: Mid-America Christian suffered a 96-92 setback against St. Gregory's on Saturday at W.P. Wood Fieldhouse in Shawnee, Okla., in the NAIA men's basketball game of the week. The Evangels enter Thursday at 14-10 overall and 10-8 in SAC play having lost their last five games.
Semar Farris, a 5-5 junior, fueled Mid-America with 28 points, six assists and four steals. Farris reached 25 points for the fifth time this season. Farris posts 20.0 points, 5.1 assists and 3.13 steals per game. Angelo Lewis, a 6-4 senior, had 16 points and nine rebounds. Lewis averages 16.2 points, 6.1 rebounds and 1.71 steals a game.
Mid-America Christian hits 39 percent of its 3-point shots to rank eighth nationally. In the preseason coaches poll, Mid-America had been slotted to finish seventh in the SAC.

ABOUT THE COACHES: Dionne Phelps owns a record of 45-35 in his third season as OCU coach. He led the Stars to the SAC Tournament title and an NAIA Division I Tournament appearance in 2012-13. Phelps took over the Stars after serving as assistant coach for Oklahoma, which featured future No. 1 NBA Draft pick Blake Griffin during his tenure. Phelps has been a part of four conference title teams as well as three NCAA Tournament teams during his 23-year coaching career. Phelps played for Texas Lutheran, eventually joining the Bulldog Athletic Hall of Fame.
Willie Holley is in his 41st season as head coach at Mid-America Christian. Holley has a career record of 783-512. He has led MACU to four NCCAA Division II national championships.

FOLLOW THE STARS: Fans can keep up on the latest on OCU athletics through several ways.
Help OCU win an NAIA contest and gain more followers on social media in 2013-14. Become a fan of the Oklahoma City University Stars on Facebook by going to www.facebook.com/ocustars.
Become a follower of the OCU Stars on Twitter at www.twitter.com/ocustars.
Check out video of the Stars in action at www.youtube.com/ocustars.
Be sure to catch the OCU Athletics Update video program weekly on ocusports.com, the OCU YouTube Channel or on OCU Athletics' Facebook page. Click here to see the latest edition or see our video channel in the upper right-hand corner of our home page.

ON THE AIR: OCU athletics has partnered with Stretch Internet to provide live and on-demand audio, stats and video of the Stars' games. To listen to the game, visit OCU's Stretch portal by clicking here. Andrew Himes will provide the play-by-play.
Mid-America Christian will provide live video and live stats for the contest.

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